Albert took him to the place where his friend Tony lived. He reiterated that Aric wanted a place to stay. Tony looked deeply into Aric's eyes as he couldn't understand why a child like him, who wasn't even of mature age, was living away from his parents.

"What kind of irresponsible parents were they?" These were the same thoughts Albert had, and that was why he was going out of his way to help Aric.

"I do have a place, but it's a single home and the rent will be high," Tony said, not wanting to deceive. Tony worked as a blacksmith and lived above the shop. The shop belonged to him, as did the home above it. Unlike most blacksmiths, he was in the profession because he loved it since he was a child.

Since he loved being at the shop and the home built above it, his own home could be rented out. Albert was a great friend of Tony's, so he brought Aric here.

"How much is the rent?" Aric asked, having no idea about the cost of living here.

"Two silver coins a month. And the home is quite big," Tony said as he led them to his other home. He was expecting an apartment of some sort, as he didn't know Tony's background, but when he saw a two-story home with three bedrooms and a workshop, he realized that Tony wasn't as simple as he sounded.

Tony could see the confusion, so he gave a little background to Aric.

"I am ready to move in," Aric said, not giving much thought to the two silver coins, as he had plenty to spare. The fact was that two silver coins were the cheapest Tony could afford to give to someone. In the market, it was at least three silver coins, but Albert had told him about Aric, so he trusted his friend.

He didn't need the money anyway. He was happy with the blacksmith shop, and he had more than enough to live alone and even had savings for his old age. With the two silver coins, he wanted to help Aric, and also giving that big home would be a security, since the home was quite close to the guard quarters.

This was Tony's way of taking care of Aric, who hadn't reached maturity. Aric was beyond happy to get this big house. Kindness sometimes did give good returns. This was one of the rarer sights.

"Are you happy with the things around? What would you like to do?" Albert asked after Aric checked out the home.

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"I told you, Uncle. I will do business," Aric replied.

"Are your parents really going to help you?" Albert was still very skeptical and thus wanted to know the truth. Aric could see the distrust and knew that he would have to prove himself to make them believe.

"Uncles, are you free at night? Like after 9 pm?" Aric asked.

"We are... Why?" Tony replied.

"Great. Why don't you come here for dinner? I will show you what I want to do," Aric said. This made the two of them interested.

"You can cook good food? I tell you, if you serve us bad food, I will throw it out," Albert joked.

"And I will bet that you would want to know about my recipe after eating my food," Aric smirked and said.

"Never in a million years," Albert cried out.

"We shall see," Aric said.

Albert and Tony hung around for a few more minutes before leaving again for their job, while Aric went back to his grandparents' home.

"What have you been doing these days going out?" Grandpa was curious, as he had hardly seen his grandson around the past few days.

"Uh, Grandpa, I am trying to work on a serious project," Aric said.

"Project? What project?" Grandma asked.

"One that would make me rich," Aric said with all the confidence in his voice.

"Hahahah... really? Then I guess we will have to wait and see what our cute grandson would do to make himself rich," Grandpa said, as he just chalked it up to the ambitions one would have when they were young and didn't inquire further. It was probably some kind of cutesy project that their grandson wanted to keep hidden for now. After having his lunch, Aric left, but this time not for Distant Wind city, but for Echorysia.

He was back in the city and, after asking Apis, he found himself near a storage yard—a sprawling expanse of metallic containers arranged in neat rows. Each container, colossal in size and constructed from resilient alloys, resembled the mammoth shipping crates of bygone eras, yet they bore the unmistakable marks of advanced technology.

Guided by luminescent markers embedded in the ground, Aric made his way through the labyrinthine corridors formed by the towering stacks of containers. Aric had already made a payment and acquired a huge container.

These storage units were immense, and one could easily have items delivered here. Inside the storage units, the space was almost identical to those found in Western countries—just an empty space. A progressive addition to the storage units was the temperature control, allowing some special products to be preserved here in safe custody. The whole operation was managed by robots, including the cleaning services.

These storage units provided safety and privacy, and that was what Aric required at the moment—privacy.

After entering his designated storage unit, he waited. While waiting, he started to look at his communicator and began searching for things that would give him an edge here. As he waited, the first batch of shipment arrived.

There were three cartons of shipment, and men came to deliver them just outside the storage unit.

"Phew, this would be a good start," Aric said as he dragged the cartons inside before closing the storage unit. There was still time until nightfall, and he could wait.